The invention concerns a cyclone separator for separating liquid and/or solid particles from a fluid, in particular from a gas stream. The invention further concerns a filtering device, in particular air filter for a power engine or a compressed air compressor, comprising a filter housing with a raw-side inlet and a clean-side outlet for the medium to be filtered.
Cyclone separators, also referred to as cyclone, cyclone filter or centrifugal separator, serve for separating solid or liquid particles contained in fluids. A fluid which is flowing into a cyclone cell is guided in such a way that centrifugal forces accelerate the particles that are to be separated from the fluid in outward direction and feed them to a particle exit opening of the respective cyclone cells. For generating the centrifugal forces, guiding devices or guiding apparatus are used which comprise guide vanes that generate a turbulent flow within a cell pipe of the respective cyclone cells. Each cyclone separator comprises at least one particle outlet so that the separated particles can exit from the cyclone separator. For supporting discharge of the particles from the cyclone separator, the particles can be sucked away at the particle outlet by negative pressure by means of a suction device. For this purpose, a blower, a pump or an ejector can be provided. In this way, the degree of separation is even further improved.
The publication DE 10 2011 121 630 A1 discloses a cyclone separator of the aforementioned kind. In order to better control the negative pressures present at the cyclone separator, this known cyclone separator has two adjacently arranged particle outlets.
Still, it may happen, in particular in case of multi-cell cyclones or multi-cyclones in which a plurality of cyclone cells are arranged adjacent and above each other, that the separated particles cannot be discharged sufficiently and accumulate within the cyclone separator. Such particle accumulations can lead to clogging of individual cyclones and thus cause a drop in the degree of separation of the cyclone separator.
In order to avoid dust accumulations within the cyclone separator, the publication DE 10 2012 007 308 A1 proposes to provide only two cyclone cells instead of a plurality of cyclone cells. The guiding devices of the two cyclone cells disclosed in the publication DE 10 2012 007 308 A1 cause rotation in opposite directions. The particle outlet is configured such that the exhaust air streams exiting from the cyclone cells and containing the separated particles are combined to a common exhaust air stream and discharged from the cyclone separator.
Moreover, the publication CN 101905196 A1 discloses a dual cyclone with two cyclone cells causing rotation in opposite directions.